


Childhood

by Kuro_Midnight



Category: DRAMAtical Murder (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, F/M, Female Seragaki Aoba, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:34:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 9,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22269487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kuro_Midnight/pseuds/Kuro_Midnight
Summary: A collection of one-shots about Aoi (female Aoba) and Koujaku's relationship during their childhood that I just felt like I should publish as my first fanfic for DMMD.
Relationships: Koujaku/Seragaki Aoba
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	1. A First Meeting

Koujaku had always loved to go on walks through the park in spring, ever since he’d first come here with his mother. He liked to admire the scenery while listening to people playing with their pets, families eating picnics together and adult couples taking pictures of the blooming trees. There was an area off to the side of the main park that was a playground and children often played there alone or accompanied by their parents. He looked over at this place and smiled as he remembered playing there with his friends when he was younger. The boy’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of children fighting in the background and as a boy with a fierce drive to help others, he followed the sound. Two boys seemed to be ganging up on a younger, or at least smaller boy with messy blue hair. “Seragaki still says that they’re gentle, even though they act like this?” one of the boys chided and the other one teased, “You’re so messy and loud, I bet it’s why you’re always on your own!” and the blue-haired boy with tears in his eyes yelled, “Shut up!” and struggled with the second boy, who had rich brown hair. The black-haired boy, not to let his friend down, tugged sharply on the blue-haired boy’s hair, causing him to let out a scream of pain and easily allowing the brunet to get the upper hand on him. Koujaku wouldn’t stand for that happening and ran between the smallest boy and the brunet. “What are you doing?” the blue-haired boy weakly asked and Koujaku said, “It’s not nice to pick on smaller people like this, you two.” A dangerous aura seemed to surround him and though the brunet looked to be ready to fight him too, the black-haired boy clearly sensed that this could be dangerous. “Come on, Igarashi, we don’t need to get into trouble for this!” Igarashi seemed determined and yelled “That’s exactly why he needs to move!” Koujaku sighed at the younger children and prepared to make a move until Igarashi was yanked back by his arm. “Igarashi let’s go!” the boy said and ran off, dragging Igarashi behind him who loudly protested, “Let go of me, Kiyokawa! I could take him!” The boys quickly disappeared from sight and Koujaku crossed his arms, irritated before turning to the blue-haired boy, who was still sniffling on the ground. He had bruises on his face and scrapes on his knees and Koujaku put a hand out to him. “Here, let me help you up.” He said and the boy took his hand and was lead over to a bench.

He gave a tissue to the boy, who blew his nose and wiped his eyes. “Those boys were being really mean to you. Has that ever happened before?” Koujaku asked and the boy looked away. “They always tease me because I’m not smart and my hair is different…” the boy mumbled. Koujaku felt very angry that anyone would let those boys get away with that kind of behaviour and put an arm around the young boy. “Don’t worry. As long as I’m here, I’ll make sure that they don’t do that anymore.” The boy looked up and asked, “Do you…really want to be my friend…?” Koujaku smiled at the boy reassuringly and said, “Of course! I’ll make sure you’re safe whenever you play here, and I’ll play lots of games with you!” The boy teared up a little more and suddenly hugged Koujaku, who was briefly knocked off balance by the gesture. “Thank you, mister…um, what’s your name?” the boy asked shyly and Koujaku said, “My name’s Koujaku Suzuki. What’s your name?” The boy smiled a little and wiped his tears as he said, “My name’s Aoi Seragaki. Um…I really hope I can be a good friend to you, Suzuki.” Koujaku looked at the boy’s knees and said, “Your knees are scraped…are your parents somewhere around here?” Aoi looked at him and said, “Yeah. My family are having a picnic over there.” He pointed back through the trees and Koujaku said, “Can you show me where they are? I’ll walk over to them with you.” Aoi nodded and got up, taking Koujaku’s hand and leading him through the trees until they got to three people sitting on a blanket. There was an older woman with her pink hair in a bun, wearing a light yellow shirt and some brown trousers, a younger woman with hair the same colour worn in a long ponytail with a light yellow ribbon wearing a sky blue dress and a younger man with red hair, wearing a black t-shirt and jeans. “This is my family.” Aoi said and the younger woman turned to them at the sound of Aoi’s voice and quickly ran up to them. “Aoi, oh my god! What happened to you?” she asked and Koujaku told her, “There were two kids who were fighting with him and pulling his hair, but I scared them off. I decided that I would bring him over, so I knew he was safe.” The young woman had gathered Aoi in her arms by this point and said “That’s very kind of you, little one. Thank you for helping Aoi out.” Aoi spoke to the lady, saying “Mummy, this is my friend, Suzuki. He’s going to make sure that I’m safe here from now on.” The lady smiled at Aoi and said, “Is that right? Well, it’s nice to meet you, Suzuki. I’m Haruka, Aoi’s mother.” Koujaku bowed politely to the woman and said, “It’s nice to meet you, Miss.”


	2. Playing on the Swing Set

Aoi played a nursery rhyme on a xylophone at the park, mumbling the words to herself while trying to replicate the tune. She peeked around the xylophone slightly and gasped upon seeing her friend. “Suzuki!” she cried as she ran over to him and tackled him with a hug. “Woah! Hi there, Seragaki!” Koujaku laughed and hugged her back fiercely. Aoi smiled up at him and said, “I was looking forward to seeing you today. I really enjoy playing with you!” Koujaku smiled slightly at her and said, “I’m glad…Do you want to play on the swings over there?” Aoi nodded and ran over to the swing set at a great speed.

She looked a little apprehensive and admitted, “I haven’t tried swinging on my own in quite a while. I’m scared that I might fall…” Koujaku looked at her and said, “How about I push you first and see if you can get the hang of stopping yourself and swinging alone.” Aoi looked determined and said, “No. Actually, I think I’ll try it myself first.” Koujaku laughed a little and responded, “If you say so…” Aoi pouted at him angrily and grumbled, “I’ll show you, idiot…” She hopped onto the swing and seemed to be having some difficulty swinging and was quite unhappy that her shorter legs meant that she couldn’t swing as high as Koujaku. She decided to swing higher, though she felt she could get hurt doing so. “Seragaki, are you sure that’s safe? You shouldn’t be swinging as high as me…” Koujaku said. Aoi smiled happily and cried, “Look at how high I can go! This is so much fun!” She laughed to herself as she swung higher, not knowing that Koujaku had stopped and was looking at her nervously. “Seragaki, I really don’t think that this is safe!” He called, but Aoi was too caught up in the exhilaration of swinging to notice his nervous cries. She decided to try and slow herself but became quite scared when she wouldn’t stop properly. “Suzuki, I don’t know if I can stop properly!” she cried “Just try and put your feet on the floor!” Koujaku told her and she tried scraping her feet against the floor. She decided to jump off the swing and Koujaku asked, “What are you doing? Stay down there until I stop the swing!” She obediently stayed put until Koujaku stopped the swing and climbed out from underneath it.

She was surprised when Koujaku promptly grabbed her shoulders and said, “I told you that it was dangerous for you to swing that high! Why didn’t you listen to me? You could’ve gotten hurt!” Aoi looked to one side with tears in her eyes and said, “It was a pretty dumb idea…It was really scary being up that high…” Koujaku pulled her into his chest and said, “Don’t do stupid things like that to be like me, okay? I don’t want you getting hurt because you want to be like older kids.” Aoi felt his sleeve and gasped. “Your kimono is ripped! Did it catch on the swing?!” she asked. “That’s not important right now. You’re okay, aren’t you?” Aoi nodded but then cried, “I’m sorry I made you scared and ripped your kimono! I can’t even pay to have it fixed and there’s no way I can ask Mummy and Daddy!” Koujaku comforted her by rubbing her back and said, “It’s okay, really. Don’t worry about my kimono, my mum can fix it.” Aoi sniffed and looked up at him, saying “Really?” Koujaku smiled at her and said, “Yeah, so don’t cry. Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” He led her away to the bathrooms to clean her face.


	3. The Origin of a Nickname

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A side note: In Japanese, Hippo (kaba) and idiot (baka) sound very similar, hence my headcanon that Koujaku's nickname of Hippo came from an angry slip of the tongue on Aoba's part.

“Aoi, come back here!” Koujaku laughed, chasing Aoi through the trees while she smiled mischievously at him and ran far ahead. She hid behind a tree, giggling to herself while her friend looked around for her, “Aoi, stop hiding from me!” Koujaku said and she crouched behind the tree, trying desperately to withhold her laughter. “Aoi, I know you’re here somewhere. It’s not manly to hide from someone like this, you know.” Aoi smiled to herself, thinking she’d outsmarted him and soon decided to try to move to another tree. Surprisingly, she ran directly into Koujaku who grabbed her from behind and tickled her, resulting in the girl squealing with laughter. “I found you!” Koujaku proclaimed as she protested between outbursts of laughter. She smiled at him and gave back the bracelet that she had run off with to start this game, which he happily thanked her for. Aoi’s stomach growled and she held it a little and said, “I’m hungry after running. There’s an ice-cream stall over there and I’ve got some money, so do you want some ice-cream?” Koujaku nodded and said, “I always like having some ice-cream. Let’s go over there.” Aoi smiled and walked behind him before tripping briefly. “Are you okay?” Koujaku asked and she sighed at her trainers, as one of her laces had come undone. “Wait a minute.” She said and sat down to try and tie her laces again. Koujaku watched as she fiddled with the laces and seemed to be getting angry with them and couldn’t help but giggle a little at her. “Don’t laugh at me, stupid. I can definitely do it myself!” she pouted, and he nodded as she continued to struggle. “If you can’t do it, I can do it for you, Aoi.” He offered and she angrily said, “Shut up! I can do it by myself you hippo!” she bit her tongue as she said so and rubbed her jaw slightly. Koujaku looked confused and asked, “Hippo? Don’t you mean idiot?” Aoi glared at him and mumbled “I said what I said…” Koujaku giggled a little and said, “Aoi, so mean…” Aoi eventually sighed and said, “Can you tie my laces for me?” Koujaku replied, “Of course.” and tied her laces before helping her up. “Thank you, hippo. Now, let’s get some ice-cream.” Aoi said and a rather confused and amused Koujaku nodded and followed behind her.


	4. Festivals and A Not-So-Secret Truth

“I’m really happy that you managed to come to the festival with me this year, Mother.” Koujaku said, looking up at his mother, who was holding his hand as they walked through the busy festival, lined with stalls and carnival games. His mother, Hotaru, returned his tender smile and said, “You know I wouldn’t miss spending time with you for the world, Sparrow…” They were both dressed in yukata for the festival, Hotaru’s being pale pink with a purple flower pattern and a lavender obi and Koujaku’s being red with a gold dragon pattern on it and a black obi. “Do you think we’ll be lucky enough to see some friends here, Koujaku?” Hotaru asked and Koujaku excitedly replied, “Oh, I hope so! Goldfish scooping with your friends is the best part of a festival!” Hotaru gave her son a tender smile and they continued walking through the rows of stalls together. “Mother, let’s get some fried chicken!” Koujaku said, pulling his mother aside to one of the stalls. Hotaru nodded and paid for their food, which they ate while observing the busy people taking photos and enjoying their time with family. Koujaku smiled to himself, delighted to spend time with his mother as he put his rubbish in a bin but quickly turned his head to the sound of a familiar voice. He looked down the row of stalls and saw Aoi, perched on Nain’s shoulders, laughing with him as Haruka fixed a charm on her Obi and Tae looked at them with her arms folded, but smiling warmly. Aoi looked through her hair and smiled. “Daddy! Koujaku’s over there!” Aoi cried and Nain looked over to see the boy down the row of stalls. “Koujaku!” she called and waved him over then got Nain to put her down and put her geta back on. “Aoi! How are you?” Koujaku said excitedly, looking up and down her yukata. “I’m doing well! The festival is so pretty and exciting this year, don’t you think?” She said, while tucking into some Ikayaki. Koujaku nodded and complimented, “Your yukata looks really cool!” Aoi looked happy at that comment and spun around, saying, “Thank you! It’s really adorable isn’t it?” Koujaku looked a little confused by Aoi’s choice of words but supposed she did look quite cute in the yukata, which had a simple sky blue and light pink square pattern with a teal floral obi on which she had hung a white charm of a small dog and a red one of a heart. “Hey, Koujaku, didn’t you say that Miss Hotaru was coming here with you tonight?” Aoi asked, snapping Koujaku out of his thoughts. “Ah, yeah, she just sitting down over there.” Haruka folded her arms and gave a knowing smile and slight giggle at the boy, who averted his eyes from her quickly. Aoi had been thinking to herself and turned to her family, asking, “Mummy, Daddy, can I go and play some games with Koujaku? I’ve still got some money.” Nain and Haruka smiled at her and Nain said, “Well, I think we should at least let Miss Suzuki know before you take Koujaku anywhere.” Aoi turned to Koujaku and asked, “Is that okay, Koujaku? I really want to hang out with you here.” Koujaku smiled at her and said, “Yeah, of course. Let’s go and let Mother know first though. She’s sitting on the benches over here.” Koujaku led the family through to the benches and Hotaru looked up, clearly surprised by them. “Mother, Aoi would like to go and play some of the carnival games with me. Is that okay?” Hotaru looked over at Aoi, who shyly looked at her and asked, “Is that okay, Miss Hotaru?” Hotaru smiled at the duo and said, “Of course that’s fine. Just don’t be too long now, okay?” Tae handed a small bag to Aoi and told them, “We’ll wait here with Koujaku’s mother until you come back. Have fun you two.” She smiled at them as Aoi grabbed Koujaku’s hand and said, “Let’s go, Koujaku.” He laughed as Aoi dragged him through the stores and called, “Aoi, be careful going that fast!”

Aoi concentrated, lining up her shot at the stall. She took her shot, knocking down two rows of bottles and cheered happily. “Congratulations, sweetie! You can pick from any of the smaller bears.” The stall minder told her, and she picked a red bear with a purple bow tied around its neck. “Look, Koujaku, he’s red like you!” She said to her friend who nodded happily. “What should we call him?” Koujaku asked and she looked thoughtful as they continued through the stalls. “Hmm, how about Katsuo? I did win him after all.” Koujaku was endeared by his young friend’s excitement and told her, “Katsuo sounds great.” They hugged each other happily as they looked through the stores. “How about we go goldfish scooping together?” Koujaku suggested and she looked up at him and said, “I can’t take care of the fish if I win, though. Can we play with the yo-yos instead?” Koujaku nodded and affirmed, “Yeah, that’s fine.” The two proceeded to play at trying to catch the yo-yo’s for quite some time until Aoi caught a yellow one. “Yes! It only took me three tries this time! Koujaku, did you see?” she said, excited and Koujaku smiled at her and nodded, despite being somewhat irritated that he had been unable to catch one. “Here you go, miss.” The store minder said and Aoi bowed and said, “Thank you!” The duo’s attention was drawn to a rather sad looking toddler who was looking tearfully at the pool, having had no luck with the game. Aoi looked at the boy and at her own prize, before stepping up to him. “Hey, little one.” She gently spoke, and the boy lifted his head to look at her. “You can take mine instead. I’ve already got one at home.” The little boy gasped and took the bag from her hand, showing it to his father and happily babbling about Aoi. “Oh? That’s very kind of you, young lady! Daiki, what do we say to this kind girl?” the father asked, and Daiki said, “Thank you, little miss!” Aoi laughed and waved a hand and the boy walked away, now in higher spirits. Aoi turned around to Koujaku, who was now looking rather confused and asked, “Is something wrong?” Koujaku seemed to be searching for the right words to say for some time and finally asked, “You’re…a girl?” Aoi looked confused for a second before laughing happily and saying, “Of course I’m a girl, Koujaku! You’re so funny, you know?” To say that Koujaku’s entire world view changed in that moment would be an understatement as he stammered in confusion at the girl who had turned her back on him. Aoi mumbled to herself, “It must be getting late now. I think we should go back to our parents. Hey, Koujaku, come on!” She walked off in the direction of the seats and Koujaku stood still for a moment, floored by confusion and then realised that his friend was waiting and shouted, “I-I’m coming!” in her direction before quickly following her back to their families.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Outfit references for this chapter  
> Koujaku - https://www.aokdress.com/holesale-boys-dance-dresses/boys-folk-dance-costumes/red-black-white-boy-s-kids-children-ancient-chinese-folk-classical-han-folk-dance-kimono-film-cosplay-dresses-costumes.html (Middle outfit)  
> Aoi - https://global.rakuten.com/en/store/kimonomachi/item/042215/  
> Haruka - https://yukata-japan.com/collections/yukata-style/products/yukatastyle-kikyou-women  
> Nain - https://global.rakuten.com/en/store/kimonomachi/item/043423/  
> Tae - https://yukata-japan.com/products/yukatastyle-temari-women  
> Hotaru - http://www.selfloveco.online/Pink-Japanese-Women-Silk-Satin-Kimono-Yukata-With-Obi-Vintage-Evening-Dress-Performance-Dance-Dress-Flowers-Size-S-M-L-WK063-DE6060AW-p-6003.html


	5. Bedtime Stories Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, I'm still here! Sorry for disappearing during the epidemic but it really took a toll on my mental health. I promise I'll update this story more regularly from now on! Also, this chapter is split into two parts so expect part 2 soon! Also, Shiroba appears briefly in this chapter, hence the new tag.

Aoi excitedly walked around the house, holding Katsuo and singing to herself, “Koujaku’s coming to stay the night today~!” She sang, excited to be spending the night with her friend. Haruka giggled to herself while cleaning a counter and said to Tae “She’s been singing about her friend all day. They really are close, aren’t they?” Tae looked at her granddaughter and smiled while saying, “I’m glad that Aoi’s finally found a friend that she feels so close to. It’s a rare thing for someone of her age to find a friendship like this.” Haruka nodded and said, “It really makes me happy that she has someone like Suzuki by her side.” They both looked over at Aoi, who was peering out of the living room window and Haruka smiled fondly at her. A few moments later, Aoi’s face lit up and she excitedly exclaimed, “Mummy, Daddy, Grandma! Koujaku’s here!” She ran to the door, with Tae close behind her and tackled her friend with a hug when Tae opened the door for them. “Koujaku! I’m so happy you can be here!” Koujaku was laughing to himself at Aoi’s cute enthusiasm and said, “I’m happy to be here too, Aoi.” Meanwhile, Hotaru was speaking to Tae and humbly said, “Thank you for having Koujaku for the night. Please tell Haruka and Nain I said so.” Tae smiled, leaning on the door, and said, “Don’t mention it, Hotaru. It’s made Aoi happy as well. She’s been talking about him all day.” Hotaru smiled to herself at that and asked, “Is that so? Well, in any case, I must get going. Koujaku! Come inside with Aoi!” Koujaku ran up to his mother and asked, “You’ll be fine, right? And you’ll pick me up at lunch time tomorrow?” Hotaru patted Koujaku’s head lightly and reassured him, “I’ll be fine, dear. Don’t worry about me, just go and have fun with Aoi.” Koujaku nodded as Aoi pulled at his sleeve to get him to come inside and said, “Bye, mother! I’ll see you then!” Hotaru waved happily at them and Aoi said, “Koujaku, let’s put your things upstairs!” Koujaku nodded and let Aoi lead him into her house.

Koujaku finished laying out his nightclothes on his bed and sat down on the futon, looking around at Aoi’s things. “I noticed that you’ve been holding Katsuo this whole time, Aoi. You’ve really become attached to him, haven’t you?” Aoi nodded happily and replied, “I have! He’s a special toy because we won him together and because I was with you, his memories are precious to me.” Koujaku’s cheeks went slightly pink at that notion and he covered his face with the sleeve of his kimono, while making a sound of agreement. Truthfully, Koujaku had been confronted with some confusing feelings about his young friend recently, which made him nervous to be here. But he wouldn’t say such a thing, of course, otherwise he might upset Aoi. That was one thing he’d never let happen. Koujaku looked down when he felt a toy being placed in his lap. It was a small doll with white hair and grey eyes with a light yellow gown on. The doll seemed somewhat familiar to a girl he’d met before, but he dismissed it as a coincidence as he inspected the doll. “This doll’s really well made! Where did you get this from?” Aoi looked almost reverent towards the toy and quietly said, “Be careful with her. She’s the only toy I have from before.” Koujaku raised an eyebrow and asked, “Before?” Aoi realised that he wouldn’t understand what she meant by that and said, “Oh, I meant before I had my family. Like, when I used to live in the church with my friends. They all had dolls like this, but mine was the most beautiful.” Koujaku certainly agreed with her on that, the doll was incredibly beautiful. But he felt a lot of things holding her. ‘Aoi trusts me so much that she’d give me one of her memories to hold? I can’t believe this. But…holding something so precious is scary. I’ll put it back for now.’ He thought and the put her back in the box that Aoi took her out of. “Hey, don’t you like her?” Aoi asked, looking worried. “Oh no, it’s not that!” Koujaku hurriedly clarified, “It’s just that she’s your precious memory, so I don’t want to damage her.” Aoi smiled a little at him, almost tearfully and said, “Thank you, Suzuki. I wouldn’t want to hurt you either.” Koujaku, sensing the change in her voice turned to Aoi, who was now tearful with sky-blue hair and light eyes. “Oh, don’t cry! You should always be grateful for people who want to protect you, but you don’t need to go that far!” Koujaku hugged her close while saying so and Aoi stayed obediently quiet before patting his shoulder to get him to let go. “Ah, I feel all dizzy…We should get ready for dinner, though.” Despite his confusion, Koujaku simply nodded fondly at her and followed her downstairs to eat tea while Aoi wiped the tears from her eyes, wondering why she felt so emotional.


	6. Bedtime Stories Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I know I promised more frequent updates but I'm back at college now so please forgive me. I promise I'll also upload a christmas special around December too. As a side note, poor little Koujaku... It's only the beginning for our Bi Disaster.

“Thank you for the food, Mrs Seragaki. You and Miss Seragaki always cook such wonderful food for your guests.” Koujaku said to Haruka as Nain cleared the plates from the table. Haruka laughed, rubbing the back of her neck and happily spoke, “Oh, it’s nothing, Suzuki. My mum always told me that you should cook the most wonderful meals for your guests.” Aoi stretched in her seat before hopping down from the table and saying, “I’m going to get ready for bed now. Do you want to keep playing in my room, Koujaku?” Koujaku looked over towards her and said, “Sure! I better lay my clothes out as well.” Aoi nodded and happily trotted up the stairs while Koujaku nodded at Haruka, who smiled sweetly in return and followed Aoi.

Aoi continued to play with a dollhouse on the floor and Koujaku quietly observed her while neatly laying out his pyjamas on the futon in her room. He walked over to Aoi and sat down besides her as she spoke for the dolls, making the male and female doll hold hands and say romantic things to each other. She looked over at Koujaku and asked, “Do you want to play with me too? You could be the father doll, like you were before.” Koujaku looked to be considering it before he thought about the fact that Aoi would be saying all of those sweet things to him. He blushed a little at the thought and said, “No, I’m fine. I like listening to your stories a lot more than playing with you, anyway.” Aoi nodded, and she happily went about telling a story of a family’s lives with a happy couple, two older girls and one baby boy. Koujaku was taken by her words and wondered with her what it would be like if he was a part of such a family. They were both pulled from Aoi’s story when they heard Tae call, “Aoi! It’s getting late, so you have to take your shower soon!” Aoi looked surprised by that and then recalled, “Oh, I remember! I didn’t take a shower last night because my parents were busy, so I have to now.” She gave an apologetic look to Koujaku and said, “It’ll be time to get ready to sleep after, so we can’t play anymore. I’m sorry, Koujaku…” Koujaku shook his head and assured her, “No, don’t worry about it, Aoi. I’ve had fun with you tonight and we can have more fun tomorrow morning.”

Aoi then had an idea that would enable her to play with Koujaku and excitedly told him, “I’ve had an idea, Koujaku!” Koujaku tilted his head slightly in curiosity and asked, “What’s that?” Aoi smiled and said, “How about we shower together? We haven’t done that in quite a while, and it would mean we could play in the water!” She waited for a response and became confused when she didn’t get one, so she decided to look up. Aoi was only presented with more confusion, however, as Koujaku had a red face and was seemingly frozen to the spot, looking at her blankly. “Koujaku? Hey, Koujaku! I asked you a question, didn’t I?” she said, annoyed with his odd behaviour and lack of verbal response. Koujaku suddenly seemed to unfreeze and stuttered immensely, raising his arms and looking all around. Aoi sighed and said, “Honestly, what’s wrong with you, Hippo? I only wanted to play with you some more…” Koujaku seemed to be forming the sentence that he’d be working to put together for the last five minutes and eventually managed to say, a little louder than he meant to, “What are you saying Aoi?! There’s no way we could do that!” Aoi seemed hurt at his reply and asked, “Why can’t we? We’re good friends, right? And it’s fine with my parents if we do.” Koujaku was now caught in a difficult situation. There was absolutely **no way** he was going to say anything about his blossoming crush, but he didn’t want to come off as harsh to Aoi by refusing to give her a reason. He decided to phrase it in a very specific manner, and he sighed before telling her. “I’m older than you, right?” Aoi nodded slowly and he continued, “When boys and girls start getting older, their bodies start changing.” Aoi nodded and said, “I thought I hear the older girls talking about that…” Koujaku continued by saying, “The changes can be very embarrassing and someone who’s young like you wouldn’t understand a lot of these things. So, maybe it’s best that we don’t do that. At least, not right now.” Aoi nodded, looking less offended and more understanding now. At that moment, Tae came in the door and went to get Aoi’s pyjamas and told her, “Aoi, it’s time for your shower now.” Aoi nodded and walked behind her and said, “I’ll be back as soon as I can, Koujaku.” Koujaku nodded and waited for them to leave. Once the door was shut, he promptly laid on the futon and looked at the ceiling, his thought whirling as he tried to recompose himself before Aoi came back.


	7. A Beautiful Garden

Aoi and Koujaku were walking through the streets in the afternoon sun together. They were walking back to Koujaku’s house, where Aoi was going to stay with her friends until her parents finished their work. Aoi skipped along the pavement, holding her bag behind her and humming a tune. She certainly looked cute in her school uniform, a white shirt and a dark green blazer and skirt with white knee socks, black mary-janes and a bright yellow cap. She looked a lot more feminine these days, on account of her hair having grown a little, now reaching her shoulders in length as opposed to the short messy style it had before. ‘She looks so sweet…’ Koujaku thought, watching her with a smile and a slight pink blush on his cheeks. Aoi twirled around in her skirt and then looked around at the houses surrounding them. “This place really is very different from where I live. The houses are so far apart! I can’t believe that some of them have gardens.” The West District was like stepping into another world for a girl like Aoi. She walked up to an ornate looking metal fence, thrilled by the heart pattern before Koujaku stopped her from getting closer. “Oh. That’d probably be rude…” She mumbled and Koujaku looked away for a second before saying, “Well, I’m not sure about that, but some people use electric fences around here, so you could get hurt if you touch them.” Oddly enough, Aoi went to touch the fence again, despite that warning, causing Koujaku to grab her hand to snap her away from it. She stared at him and then his hand on top of hers. Koujaku blushed lightly and told her, “Let’s go over here. We can walk through the gardens if we go this way towards my house.” Aoi nodded, gripping his hand and letting him lead her through the neighbourhood. It felt a lot safer for Aoi to hold her friend’s hand and she smiled happily to herself as they walked through the gates to the gardens.

Aoi had crouched down by the side of the path, looking at a bed of Irises. They were a pretty yellow colour, not far off from Aoi’s own eye colour and Aoi leaned in to smell them. Koujaku stood beside her, looking down at her as she did so. “Do they smell nice?” he asked, and she nodded, humming to herself. “They look very pretty. Almost like-!” he cut himself off when he realised what he was about to say and turned away from her. It'd be weird for a friend to compliment her eyes, right? They were just friends after all, right? Aoi stood up and stretched, re-adjusting her cap and walked over to a bed full of Bluebells. She smiled at them and thought about how she wished she could take a picture of them. “Koujaku? Do you have your coil with you?” she asked and Koujaku looked over to her. “Why’s that? Do you want me to take a picture of you or something?” he asked, and she nodded. “Um, if it isn’t too much trouble, could you take one to send to my mommy?” Aoi shyly looked away with her request and Koujaku nodded with a smile. “Of course.” he replied and took his bag off of his shoulder. He rummaged through his bag before pulling out his coil and fastening it to his wrist. Aoi wondered to herself what it’d be like to have her own coil as he scrolled through some screens. “Okay. Sit in front of the flowerbed on the path there.” Koujaku told her and she nodded, putting her bag by his feet and sitting on the floor with her ankles crossed and her hands in her lap. “Okay. Now, give me a cute smile, Aoi!” he said and Aoi giggled, showing a radiantly adorable smile and Koujaku took the picture. “Does it look good?” Aoi asked, running over to him excitedly. Koujaku nodded and showed her the photo. “Wow! Mommy will love this photo!” she exclaimed happily. Koujaku thought about showing that picture to his own mother as well, as Aoi picked up her bag.

They continued walking for a while until they heard a loud noise. The duo stopped in their tracks, looking for the source of the noise until a small creature jumped out at them. Both children shouted in surprise, jumping back and grabbing each other’s hands. It turned out that a small and rather noisy dog was the source of the sound and it barked excitedly at the two children. Aoi was about ready to hide in her friend’s chest, until she noticed his shivering too. Sure enough, when she looked up, she saw Koujaku wearing a rather scared expression himself. Something within Aoi made her steel herself when she saw her friend looking so afraid and she stood between Koujaku and the hyperactive dog. “Huh?” Koujaku said, looking at his young friend in a confused manner. “Don’t worry, Koujaku!” Aoi said, standing sternly between him and the dog, “I’ll protect you, so don’t be afraid!” A distinct thumping swelled in Koujaku’s chest at this, and he began to flush red as he watched Aoi walk towards the dog. Aoi paused as she was about to fight the dog off and curiously reached out towards it. The dog began panting happily and jumped up towards her hand, barking excitedly. Aoi smiled at the dog and told it, “You’re not a scary dog, are you? You just want to play, right?” She knelt down and let the dog sniff her hand, before she patted the dog’s head lightly. The dog jumped into Aoi’s arms, and she wrapped her arms around it, laughing as it licked her face. “Hey, jeez! Stop that already!” she cried through her laughter. The dog eventually stood in front of her again and she checked its name tag on the lilac collar it wore. “It was fun to meet you, Shoma, but we need to find your family now.” She told the small dog, which panted happily at her. But they didn’t need to look themselves as a young man, around high-school age, came running over. “Shoma! There you are!” he exclaimed, looking quite out of breath. He looked down at the duo as he stood, holding the dog in his arms and hurriedly said, “I’m so sorry that he disturbed you two. He went running off when we were playing fetch and I couldn’t keep up.” Aoi smiled up at the man and said, “That’s okay, mister. Shoma gave us a bit of a scare, but he just played around with me a little. Right, Koujaku?” Aoi turned to her friend, only to be quite surprised when he seem distressed and was wiping something off of his face. “Koujaku? Are you okay?” Aoi asked walking up to him, but let out a sound of surprise as she got closer. Koujaku was bleeding from his nose, and didn’t seem to quite understand how it had happened. “Uwaa! Koujaku, did you get hurt?! You’re bleeding!” Koujaku looked away, embarrassed and said, “I don’t think I’m hurt, but…” The older boy approached the two of them after leashing Shoma and gave him a tissue. “Here, may I help you?” he asked and Koujaku nodded. Aoi watched, nervously fiddling with her hands as the boy held the tissue to Koujaku’s nose and tilted his head back for a while. “There. That should stop it.” He said and Koujaku nodded, wiping his face clean with the tissue. “Koujaku, if you started bleeding, we should hurry back. If you don’t know why, maybe Miss Hotaru can tell you.” Koujaku supposed that was true and put his bag back onto his shoulder. “Yeah, you’re right. Maybe Mother does know something about why that happened.” Aoi nodded and grabbed his hand. “Don’t worry about your dog, mister, it was nice to meet him.” The older boy nodded, smiling a little at Aoi as she waved at him before dragging Koujaku by the hand again. “Ah! Aoi! Thank you for the tissue, mister!” Koujaku called to the older boy who waved happily at them with a slight laugh and Shoma happily barked in their direction as they ran through the rest of the park towards Koujaku’s home.


	8. New Year's Wishes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy early Christmas everybody! I decided to post this before I'm too busy and I was seriously doubting that I would finish this on time, but fortunately, I did. I hope you enjoy this chapter during the holidays.

It was New Year’s Eve today and Aoi and her family were walking through the grounds of a local shrine, lined with stalls and crowded with people. Christmas had passed and the family were going to see in the new year by spending time together at a festival. “It’s so much fun going out to festivals with you guys! I want to see if I can win a big prize myself this year!” Aoi said, holding Haruka’s hand as she walked. Haruka smiled a little to herself and said, “Let’s try our best, like we do every year.” Aoi cheered happily and Haruka laughed fondly in response. “Watch where you’re going, you two. You’re going to bump into someone like that.” Aoi sighed a little and said, “I won’t, Granny…” Tae looked down at her and grumbled, “Don’t think you can push your luck because it’s New Year’s, young lady. Christmas may be over, but you still have to be polite to others.” Aoi looked away from her and said, “I know, Granny.” They looked up and Haruka and Nain had gone over to a glassware stall. “Wow, look at this, Nain!” Haruka said, with one arm around Nain’s arm and the other pointing at a uniquely shaped red and green vase. “I have a great place in mind for that. How much is it, sir?” Nain asked as Tae and Aoi gave an unimpressed look in their direction. “What’s the time, Granny?” Aoi asked and Tae replied, “About 10:20, dear.” Aoi nodded and looked over at where a bench surrounded a tree. “Oh, right. We better be there to meet Hotaru and Koujaku.” Tae said and grabbed Aoi’s hand before walking over to Haruka and Nain, who were thanking the salesman with a bag in Haruka’s hands. “Haruka, Nain. We need to go with Aoi to meet Koujaku now.” Tae told them. The two nodded and walked over to the tree with Aoi to wait for her friend.

Aoi sat with her ankles crossed underneath the tree, looking up at the beautiful lights of the festival. Even if you didn’t particularly believe in the gods, you have to admit that the aura of the shrine is calming, even with so many people around. The lights were much prettier from a distance and without so many people crowding her, she could see the painted messages upon them. Aoi leant back against the tree, stretching a little before hearing her mother call, “Oh! Miss Suzuki! We’re over here!” The girl eagerly straightened herself at that, leaping up from her seat and looking over to see Hotaru and Koujaku across from them, both looking very elegant in their winter kimonos. Koujaku’s face lit up with a grin upon seeing Aoi and the two ran over to each other, greeting each other with an eager hug. “Did you like the gift I got you?” she asked, and he nodded. “I’ve been wearing it ever since.” He said, showing her the gift, a white crane charm for his obi. Aoi seemed touched at the gesture and shyly spoke, “I loved your bracelet a lot too. The blue and green is very nice.” She pulled up the sleeve on her kimono to reveal that she was wearing his gift too. “Ah, you didn’t have to do that…” Koujaku mumbled, covering his slightly pink face with his sleeve as Aoi watched him, tilting her head in confusion. He seemed to jump a little when reminded of his mother’s presence as she politely greeted, “Happy new year, Aoi. Oh, you do look adorable in your kimono!” Aoi huffed, a little embarrassed but still replied, “Thank you, Miss Hotaru.” Koujaku was no longer hiding his face, but he appeared to glare at Hotaru, who Aoi saw respond with a playful smile, almost like she was trying not to laugh at him. Aoi stood bewildered for a while before she turned to her parents, now standing behind her. “Dad, we’re all getting food together, right?” she asked, and Nain told her, “Of course we are. I know you love festival food, but don’t eat too much.” Aoi nodded and assured him, “I won’t. I really don’t want to get sick again.” Koujaku looked as though he wanted to say something and Aoi prompted him with a smile. “I was wondering if we could make our wishes on the board together this year, Aoi.” He asked, and Aoi excitedly replied, “Of course! I’d like that a lot!” With the friends happily talking and the parents knowingly watching on, the two families went to enjoy the festival together.

The families were now stood at one of the stores selling charms for people to hang up on the Ena board. Aoi tilted her head, looking carefully at each of the charms. Deciding what fortune you want to invoke for a new year is hard, after all. She somehow found herself coming back to an education talisman. School had never been her strong point, and though she didn’t have to worry about entrance exams yet, she still found it important to aim high in her studies. She looked over at Koujaku, who was nervously looking down at one particular type of talisman and she then looked over at Haruka, holding a success talisman, Nain, fretting over which one to buy and Tae, holding a family love talisman discreetly, one meant for the bond between mother and child. She giggled slightly at Tae, finding her behaviour somewhat sweet. “Koujaku, have you picked one yet, dear? If you can’t decide, I can get a matching one with you.” Hotaru said, who was standing on the other side of Koujaku to Aoi. She heard rustling and then saw that Koujaku had picked one up and was looking nervously at her. “Is something wrong? Miss Hotaru says that you can match if you can’t decide.” Koujaku looked away and asked, blushing quite visibly, “No, well, I did decide but…do you want to match with me?” Aoi looked interested and “What one is it?” Koujaku was silent for a moment longer, before he sighed, “Never-mind. You liked this one, didn’t you? It’s good to focus on your studies after all.” Aoi looked behind him at Hotaru who seemed to have gone from excitement to hiding her face in frustration rather quickly. “Is everything okay, Miss Hotaru? You seem a little tired…” Hotaru breathed in deeply and smiled at Aoi sweetly, “No, it’s okay. I’m quite fine and in any case, we have to stay up to see the fireworks.” Aoi nodded and bought the talisman, the group shortly after comparing them at a bench. “I got a school charm! What did you get?” Aoi asked and everyone replied in turn. “I got a success charm. I want to be successful in my work during this year.” Haruka said. “I ended up deciding on a love charm. It’s not that I’d ever doubt her, but I’d like to stay close with Haruka all through the year.” Nain said, and wrapped an arm around Haruka’s shoulders and she leaned in, smiling happily, allowing him to kiss her forehead. Aoi sighed slightly and Tae smiled at them. “I got this.” Tae said, holding out the relationship charm. Everyone read the text on it before smiling as Tae frowned with a blush on her cheeks. “Aww, Mummy!” Haruka cried, hugging Tae tight while she protested for a little before quieting to let Hotaru speak. “I decided on a spirit-warding charm. I want to protect us from demons and misfortune in this year.” She said, while Aoi thought that a spirit-warding charm was a very Hotaru thing to decide on. She smiled at Koujaku who folded his arms and mumbled, “It’s embarrassing…” Aoi seemed dissatisfied and pouted slightly, which was enough to sway him. “It’s this.” He said, holding out the love charm. Aoi smiled at him and told him, “I’m sure the girl you like will be happy with your wish, Koujaku.” He looked away, smiling and mumbled, “I hope so…” With their wishes then set up on the board, the group went to the hills to watch the midnight fireworks.


	9. Red Family and Red Faces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year! I finished this sooner than I thought I would, so have an early update. A side note, I love how much Koujaku's mother ships Aoi and Koujaku. This is what happens when Koujaku's unwillingness to admit his feelings clashes for the first time with Aoi's tsundere-ness.

“I’m back, Mother! Aoi’s with me!” Koujaku called from the doorway, as Aoi took off her shoes on the mat. “Welcome back, you two. I’m working in the dining room right now, but I’ll be with you in a second.” Hotaru replied and Koujaku nodded, taking off his own shoes and shutting the door. Aoi walked into the living room and sat on the sofa, taking out a snack bar from her bag as Koujaku walked past her and paused. “Do you want something to drink? Mother’s probably already made some tea.” Aoi shook her head and said, “Not right now. I’m fine with just this.” Koujaku nodded and continued to the kitchen and after a short while, Hotaru walked into the room. “Good afternoon, Aoi. It’s wonderful to see you again.” Hotaru greeted, giving a respectful bow. Aoi bowed her head to Hotaru, saying, “Hi, Miss Hotaru. Was work okay?” Hotaru nodded and sat next to Aoi, turning on the television. “Koujaku, I hope you’re not trying to use the kettle again.” She said and there was an audible pause, followed by a sheepish, “No, Mother…” Hotaru looked over towards the kitchen and said, “I hope not. You burnt yourself on it last time and almost spilled the cups.” Aoi laughed to herself, between mouthfuls of her snack bar and Koujaku yelled, “Mother!” He was clearly blushing from his tone and Hotaru giggled to herself, smiling mischievously. “You’ve got to be careful with hot things, Hippo! But I’m not even allowed to touch a kettle…” Aoi said and Koujaku sighed before coming out. He was holding a tray with orange soda for Aoi, fruit juice for Hotaru and orange juice for himself. A small array of snacks were also on the tray. Aoi thanked him for her drink and gratefully drank it, swinging her legs on the sofa. “Did you two have a good day at school?” Hotaru asked and Aoi hummed. “It was the same as always.” She said and Koujaku nodded, “Yes. I was given an award in science today.” Aoi leaned forward excitedly after putting her drink down and said, “Wow! So cool! What did you do?” Koujaku looked away, a little embarrassed and said, “I helped take charge of the little kids’ experiment in the science event when they were struggling. Mrs. Shirakami was really proud of me for helping the little ones.” Aoi looked very impressed and said, “Woah! That’s really cool of you, Koujaku!” Hotaru smiled and ruffled his hair and she said, “I’m really proud of you, Sparrow. You’ve always been good at taking care of the little ones.” Koujaku laughed and smoothed out his hair as she turned to the television.

Aoi sat closer to Hotaru and quietly said, “I suppose Koujaku was taught that by you, Miss Hotaru. You’re so good at taking care of us that my family can trust me with you. That’s really cool, you know.” Hotaru smiled and invited Aoi closer to her. “I’m glad that you think so, Aoi. I was taught a lot about being a girl growing up and even before I had Koujaku, I was taking care of my brothers.” Aoi looked up at her, a little confused and asked, “But, aren’t older boys supposed to treat girls nicely?” Hotaru sighed, with a somewhat distant and sad look and mumbled, “You’d think so, wouldn’t you…?” Koujaku, seeing that his mother was uncomfortable talking about her family, pointed towards the tv and said, “Hey, look at that.” The TV showed a flashy interview with two idol boys with white hair and Aoi gasped when she saw them. “They’re called Asahi and Naito. I’ve only listened to edited versions of their singing, but they’re really cute and have really nice voices!” Hotaru nodded and mumbled, “Is that so?” Koujaku lightly grabbed her arm and joined in, “Yes, Mother. They’re part of the Toue family and are really cool. I want to be as smoothly handsome as Asahi when I’m older.” Aoi laughed and Koujaku turned to her, looking quite offended and she smiled, chiding, “You being smoothly handsome? You may be five years older than me, but you’re still a kid, Hippo!” Koujaku frowned at her with an unamused expression and said, “You wait and see, someday I’ll be even cooler than this.” Aoi nodded, looking away with a smile and Koujaku huffed, sulking to himself. A smile slowly formed on Hotaru’s face and she took to Koujaku. “Aoi, I think that you shouldn’t have laughed at him. Plus, you already think he’s cool, right?”

Koujaku let out an embarrassed, “Huh?!” Aoi’s face lit up with a blush and she stutteringly said, “Maybe a little, but he shouldn’t get full of himself! I guess he’s quite reliable though…” Koujaku, now blushing himself, simply repeated himself, but more flustered this time. “Huh?!” he said and Aoi bit her lip, scowling to herself. “You’ll make it weird, reacting like that! Every time I say that you’re reliable, you do this, you stupid hippo!” Aoi yelled, her voice shaking somewhat. Hotaru silently observed as they got up, a hand daintily over her smiling mouth. “That’s…but wouldn’t you be embarrassed if a boy said that to you?!” Koujaku countered and Aoi replied, “I don’t know! The boys my age never say stuff like that to me! They just call me cute instead and I hate it!” Koujaku looked away blushing and mumbled to himself, “Well…well…well, they’re not…wrong…” Aoi had only half-heard that sentence but she got the idea, stepping forward and angrily saying, “You want to say that again, Hippo?!” Hotaru stepped in between them at that point, telling Aoi, “That’s quite enough you two. Aoi, don’t you want to sit outside for a bit? Our pond will calm you down.” Aoi huffed, but picked up her shoes from the door and stomped to the back of the house. Koujaku’s face immediately went redder after the back door shut and he made a very embarrassed sound, hiding his face and then cuddling Hotaru, hiding his face in her kimono. Hotaru patted his head, smiling in an amused manner and gently said, “There, there, dear. Let’s cool off with some cold water. You want to look cool for your girl, don’t you?” Koujaku nodded, with a sigh and they went to the kitchen to get some water together.


	10. A Sweet Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine's Day everybody! I couldn't resist the opportunity to write something cute for my OTP for today, so here's a new chapter. White Day is my birthday, so unfortunately there won't be a special chapter for that. It's really helped me through not being able to see my boyfriend today and I hope he's reading this too. If you are reading this, happy Valentine's Day, baby~

Aoi walked through the park in her school uniform with her head down. She was heading to the park to play with Koujaku as usual before her family finished work and had a surprise for him today. She’d been carrying it all day and fending off teasing classmates about it when they caught a glimpse of her bag during the day. She huffed again while thinking about it, wondering why people didn’t seem to be able to grasp wanting to be friends with boys if you’re a girl. It would be a lie to say that she didn’t feel lonely sometimes, especially at school. Everyone seemed so different from her, after all. But whenever Koujaku was with her, she was happy and safe. She smiled as she thought so, looking up at the budding trees in the park, newly free from snow. This time of year was always so peaceful, a calm month before March and the colours and sounds of Golden Week and Hanami. She looked up and saw in the park ahead of her, Koujaku was sat on a bench. Koujaku himself was a little nervous, having been told to meet Aoi after school with no other context. The fact that it was Valentine’s Day wasn’t helping his nerves either.

Aoi approached him, nonetheless, sitting next to him. “Hey, Hippo.” She greeted and he smiled and replied, “It’s nice to see you again, Aoi.” Aoi smiled happily up at him and took off her bag. “Did you receive chocolates today at school? I bet you did.” She said and Koujaku looked away before replying, “My girl friends gave me some friendship chocolate. And I did have some home-made chocolate left in my locker, but there was no name to it.” He sighed sadly and asked, “How am I meant to give her some nice chocolate on White Day if she won’t say who she is?” Aoi hummed, putting a hand to her chin and assured him, “Well, sometimes older girls are shy to give chocolates to the boys they like, so they’re scared of telling him who they are right away. But, I bet she’ll tell you when she’s ready!” Koujaku laughed a little and said, “You’re right, I’m sure I’ll find out eventually. Thanks Aoi.” Aoi smiled at him, putting a hand in her bag and said, “Well, I won’t receive any of the boy’s chocolate until White Day but me and two girls ate our friendship chocolates together at Lunch today. And…I’ve got a surprise for you~!” She sang and Koujaku tilted his head at her and asked, “Oh, you do?” Aoi grinned and took her hand out of her bag, presenting him with a rectangular red box of bird-shaped milk chocolates “Happy Valentine’s Day! Some special Sparrow chocolates for my best friend!” Koujaku gasped happily and took the chocolates, examining them and the box. “Um, they are store-brought, but Mum says I need to save making chocolate for my boyfriend when I’m older.” She explained. Koujaku was grinning joyously at her and excitedly gasped, “Wow! Thank you so much, Aoi! Can I eat them now?” Aoi nodded and said, “Please do! I want to know if they’re nice.” Koujaku nodded and opened the lid of the box and took out one of the chocolates, biting into it. He sat chewing it for a second before he made a pleased noise and Aoi smiled in relief. “I really like them! You chose these really well, Aoi.” Aoi smiled, looking away shyly and mumbled, “Thank you. I got them because they looked like sparrows and sparrows remind me of you.” Koujaku gestured with his hand towards himself and asked, “Is that because of my name?” Aoi nodded, shyly blushing as she looked away and he said, “I’m really flattered… I promise that I’ll give you something just as yummy and cool on White Day.” Aoi nodded and folded her arms. “I’ll be expecting a full repayment from you, Koujaku.” Koujaku laughed at her serious pose and she looked very annoyed, “Hey! If you laugh at me, I won’t get you anything next year!” Aoi protested and he looked at her, still smiling and said, “Okay, I’m sorry.” Aoi huffed at him, looking pouty and Koujaku calmly smiled, “Don’t be like that, Aoi. You know that you can count on me to get you something cool.” Aoi smiled, still folding her arms and mumbled, “I already knew that…” Koujaku giggled slightly, blushing while he looked away from her. The duo sat under the evening sun in the park as Koujaku happily ate his chocolate and Aoi sweetly observed him as they joked together until Aoi’s family came to get her.


End file.
